//------------------------------// // The turnabout of the Hibana Ruby (2-4) // Story: Investigations: The Chess Master's Turnabouts // by Rosestory //------------------------------// Mikado Mansion- Spirit Vault June 28- 7: 17 p.m. Walking up the stairs and down the hall on the 2nd floor , Sebastian, with Cozy flying nearby and hidden by her disguise and Sebastian's coat, with Emiko in front and Connor and Paul Light following closely behind them, soon stopped at a door unlike the other doors he saw while he was exploring the mansion. While every other door was a simple wooden door ,this door had some paper glued to it and a few charm hanging on nails that were , well, nailed to the door. The design of the charms and writing on the paper gave Cozy a feeling like she was staring at the entrance to a vault of forbidden magic, while it gave Sebastian a mysterious, demonic felling. Emiko carefully inserted three keys into the three locks that the door had, and soon the door opened, to which Sebastian saw a room with paintings covering the walls and a large window allowing moonlight to shine through to show a pedestal in the middle of the room... "Yep," Cozy said, "It's the exact room where the secret passage in the library led to..." " So this ," Sebastian gestured to the room "Is the Spirit Vault where you saw the Ruby at 6:40?" "Yes," Emiko said " It is..." "Hey," Sebastian asked "Are you sure you're okay with me investigating this place. It's "Well, let's find us the evidence..." Sebastian decided to investigate the pedestal in the middle of the room first. It was a simple wooden pedestal with some carvings on it, ranging from butterflies to vines to earth and spirit orbs. Pedestal info noted down "Huh?" Sebastian took notice of a pink feather on the ground next to the pedestal, it was Cozy's feather, with some golden dust on it... "Cozy glow," Sebastian asked " why is your feather here, next to the pedestal, with more gold dust on it?" "Oh, w-well," Cozy sounded like she was nervous for a split second, but her cute , childish tone returned very quickly "Well, like I said, I ended up here after taking the secret passageway and I guess my feather just fell out while I was exploring, this is an interesting room after all." She tried giving Sebastian an innocent smile but had briefly forgotten she was wearing a mask. "That kinda explains it..." Sebastian said "But there still something wrong with what you said..." "Oh, and what would that be?" Sebastian was about to answer, but he looked up to see Emiko and Paul giving an estrange look to him "I'll talk later, there still watching..." Pink feather added as extra info to Pedestal noted Sebastian then noticed something else "Huh?" Sebastian didn't noticed it, in fact if not for him being knelled down thanks to Cozy's feather, maybe he would never have noticed it, but next to Cozy's feather was a piece of pink hair "um... Emiko?" "Yes, Mr Debeste?" "Why is there Pink hair next to the pedestal?" "Pink hair?" Emiko was confused "Let me see..." Sebastian showed Emiko a strand of pink hair next to the pedestal, so thin she had to use a magnified glass she had on her , but once she saw it, there it was, a pink strand of hair... "that's odd," Emiko said "There shouldn't be any pink hair here, or any hair at all." She explained " To ensure perfect spiritual energy for the Ruby, we cleaned the room at certain times and made sure it was spotless and clean. It's actually the reason why I can confirm the Ruby wasn't stole at around 6:40. This hair must have appeared here after that." Cleaning Time noted "So this pink hair belongs to the thief?" Sebastian suggested "Most likely" Emiko stated her opinion. "Pink hair?" Connor murmured under his breath "Yes Connor?" Emiko asked "Does this pink hair remind you of something?" "I..." Connor hesitates "Need to be sure before I make an accusation first..." The uneasiness in his voice makes Emiko back down for now. Pink Hair added as extra info to Pedestal notes Sebastian decides to go to the window and open it, it was getting hot here so he decided to open the windows for some air ventilation. "Huh, that's odd" Cozy pointed out "Why is the rest of the window frame plastic but the window latch is metallic ... " Once he took a closer look, Sebastian realise that Cozy was right, the rest of the window was plastic, yet the only metal part was the latch keeping it close. "Oh, that," Paul had heard Cozy but assumed it was Sebastian who pointed that out, the mask Cozy was wearing muffling her voice so no one could tell it was hers, "Mari was cleaning the place one time when she accidentally broke it, she couldn't find another plastic latch so she used a metal one...' "Expect for the fact that we did have plastic latches and they were right next to the metal ones. " Emiko mentioned "Mari is a good maid of mine, but she can be very unobservant sometimes. " "I'm still surprise how it broke it the first place," Connor admitted "It should have been next to impossible to accidentally break the latch the way it did..." Sebastian unlatched the window and open it, embarrassing himself in the process when he though they opened outward when they actually opened inward . He opened one of the two window frames and as the cool and refreshing strong winds entered the room, Sebastian enjoyed a breath of fresh air. ... Or at lease he would have if not for the fact that he noticed a piece of black fabric fly into the room. "Hmm, " Sebastian took the fabric and gave it a closer look, "What is a piece of fabric doing out there?" "Probably just trash," Connor stated " This probably isn't important..." Sebastian went over to open the 2nd window frame, but that when he noticed... "Hey guys," He says, "There's more black fabric here, and some of it is covered in gold dust..." "More? And what do you mean gold dust?" Sebastian gestured to Emiko a piece of fabric stuck to the door frame , once again with gold dust around it . Sebastian was really starting to be suspicious about what this gold dust meant... "Hey, look there..." Emiko pointed at a spot under the fabric, where a brown substance appear to be scratched into the plastic itself. "Now that's interesting... Do you think it could be connected to the thief or not?" Paul asked . "We don't know for sure, but I wouldn't hurt to keep this in mind..." Sebastian simply stated Window Frame noted Sebastian now turned his attention to the paintings. Each one of them showing a different person , mostly elderly people but some middle aged or even young children .Each one of them wearing a different outfit and having a different background showing some of these pictures were taken from different points in time, the oldest being of a 19th century gentlemen , with the plague at the bottom saying : Founder of Mikado Marvelous Moonstones: Hibana Mikado 1945-1991 "Ah yes," Emiko sighed "My great grandfather Hibana, founder of the company, and whos spirit was to live on within the ruby..." " these paintings, " Sebastian asked "Are they of members of your family who ... um... " How to say it without sounding disrespectful "... passed on" "Yes, they are... " Emiko looked a bit sad, Sebastian looked down unsure of what to say next. Cozy however, wanted to check something "Psst, hey Sebby," Cozy whispered to him, snapping Sebastian out of his thoughts "Um, yes?" Sebastian asked "Is it ok if you can check the wall near that painting?" Sebastian wasn't sure why Cozy had asked that, but he trusted her enough to try and see what she was talking about. Taking a careful look at the wall around Hibana's painting, which was the largest painting of them all, he noticed a hidden panel lined with some off colors, as in a different shade of white lined a square on the wall, Sebastian pushed it and soon the entire wall swung open like a door. Luckily , none of the painting fallen off the wall. "In the same place as I remembered, " Cozy told Sebastian "Woah!" Emiko exclaimed " That is incredible... " "Sebastian," Paul asked "Is this the secret passage that you mentioned earlier?" He nodded "Huh, guess you weren't bluffing after all..." "Hmm, what's this." Sebastian noticed something on the floor , and ended up picking up something in his hands... Cyan Fabric noted down "Hey, " Emiko said "what is that?" "It appears to be a piece of cyan fabric, beyond that I'm not sure..." Sebastian turned to Cozy Glow "Huh ," Cozy said "That wasn't there before..." "Paul? Connor? What are your thoughts?" " Well if you ask me," Paul Light politely said " I think that a piece of fabric in a secret passage is a clear clue to solving this mystery. Who do you think it belongs to? "No idea..." Sebastian said "Definitely not mine, that's for sure" "Yeah," Emiko laugh "That outfit of yours really has no blue, it's all green or red.. " She the turned a bit serious "Then again, no one here wore anything using cyan fabric." "Wrong. Madam Emiko..." Everyone turned to see Connor with the most serious look on his face "And what do you mean by that?" Sebastian asked "I think we should go back downstairs, we have a thief to catch and an important heirloom to take back after all..." "Wait!" Emiko shouted "You know who stole it!?" "Pink hair and Cyan fabric," Connor stated "I know someone who fits that description... " "Connor," Paul looked stunned "You couldn't possibly thinking of ... Her, are you?" Connor, Without giving a response, turned and walked to the stairs. "H-Hey , wait up!" Emiko ran passed the door and towards Connor. "Madam Mikado," Paul Light called out to her , running out the room as well... "H-Hey!" Sebastian shouted "W-wait up!, Don't ignore me!" He and Cozy ran/ flew out as well... --------------------------------------------------------------------- Mikado Mansion- Main Hall June 28- 7:31 p.m. When Sebastian and Cozy finally caught up with them, they were all standing at the top of the stairs. Once Sebastian ran up next to them , Connor, Paul and Emiko looked over. "Ah, there you are, where were you?" Emiko asked "Well *Huff* ," Sebastian was breathless from the running. "You guys- left me *Puff* back at the vault so I *Wiess* Ran after you but *Huff* Might have gotten lost" "Oh, sorry about leaving you behind like that..." Connor apologized " *Huff* It's *Puff* Ok" Sebastian was panting from running from trying to keep up with them. Who knew two butlers and a rich CEO could run so fast. Faster than Sebastian across the halls down the stairs, then again, he gotten lost for a bit through out the halls so he could have gone in circles a few times. "Regardless," Emiko said "Now that you're here, we can make the announcement" "What announcement?" Sebastian had managed to catch his breath. He really hated being left out in a conversation. "Well," Paul explained " After Connor ran out the room, we manage to catch up with him before he went down the stairs and told everyone of what we found. You see, there is someone who has pink hair and wore cyan fabric ribbon, and Connor jumped to the conclusion they were the thief, and while it seems likely , we wanted Connor to calm down first before things went off the rails." "Oh, Okay," Sebastian said "Who is it?" "Aubrey Quartz," Connor explained. "Well, we might as well get this over with. Now that your here, there no reason for us to wait here any longer." Paul said . "Very well, " And with that, all 4 of them walked down the stairs. As soon as they walked to the center of the hall, everyone had their attention towards them. The whispering and murmurs were only for a few seconds as they were cut short by "Attention Everyone!" Emiko announced, everyone went silent "An investigation into the thief has revealed some interesting clues, and I would like some of you to walk forward with testimony. " "Testimony? What does that mean?" "Did they find out who stole the ruby?" "What is going on here?" "Now, " Emiko declared " Can Aubrey Quartz please step forward?" "Aubrey!? Why her?" "Are they saying she stole it?" " It's clear Connor made them think she stole it! She's innocent!" "I don't think so... Maybe they have actual solid evidence beyond biased to prove she did it?" The gossip suddenly came to a stop from the sound of loud footsteps, emerging from the crowd, everyone could see a woman walk up to the center of the hall. She wore a simple black long skirt with a white jacket and a look on her face that said "I'm trying to look calm but inside my anger is beyond hellfire " ... Oh, she also had pink hair that was tied with a cyan ribbon. "Golly," Cozy whispered "You can see how angry she is, can you?" "I learn reading faces from Edgeworth, Cozy" Sebastian stated "And yes, I can see she's holding back some anger, then again, with what she has on her hair, no wonder Connor though she did it." "Hello, there everyone," She said "Madam Emiko, Connor..." She said his name with some hint of hatred. "Aubrey" Emiko says " Do you know why you have been called to testify ?" "No, I don't, " she stated "Not a single clue as to why my testimony is needed" "I see, " Paul says , before giving his suggestion " In that case, let's allow Connor Bound some of our time to fill you in" "Hmm?" Connor asked "You want Me to tell her?" "You're the one who wanted to confront her about it, it's only fair," Emiko told him "Well, I'd better just come out and say it," Connor then told everyone in the hall what's going on " After the investigation , we believe you, Aubrey Quartz, Might be involved in the thief..." ... "... You do, hm?" Aubrey had an irradiated and mocking tone in her voice. "And tell me , is there actual evidence that proves I stole it, or is it your personal biased hatred towards me acting up again?" "Well actually," Sebastian chimed in " There's actual evidence that proves you took the secret passageway and was inside the vault at one point." "Oh really? And what is this evidence you speak of?" Present either the cyan fabric or Pedestal info TAKE THAT! "While we were investigation the spirit vault, we found cyan fabric and pink hair inside" He heard the gasp followed by whispers and murmurs " As the only person here with both pink hair and a piece of clothing , namely your ribbon, with cyan fabric, you're currently under suspicion of the thief of the Hibana Ruby!" "... Interesting" "Golly , she's really good at holding back anger, but surprisingly bad at hiding it. She didn't over react , but She said that one mundane word with a spiteful tone . "Cozy glow, " Sebastian asked "When were you this good at reading and observing other people's emotions ?" "It's part of what I do " She gave a simple response "I'll keep that in mind..." Cozy Glow's Observations Noted "I suppose you would like to rebuttal against these accusations?" Paul asked "Oh most certainly," Aubrey said "I'm no thief, of course, so I'll happily give a rebuttal to your accusations." Testimony: I'm innocent - So apparently all you have is a piece of cyan fabric and pink hair, and just because I have a cyan ribbon and pink hair, it makes me the culprit? - While they seem like solid evidence, that cyan fabric and pink hair could belong to anyone. -Is there anything to prove their even connected to the thief ? they could be there in the vault for another reason. -And while yes, I was in fact in the lounge at the time of the crime, me taking the secret passage is only a possibility, you have nothing to prove I actually used it. - Besides, I'm sure my good friend Sunday, who was also at the lounge , would love to confirm my alibi. "I see," Emiko said "you and Sunday were in the lounge together for the entire time window that the ruby could have been stolen, which means you can each vouch for each other's innocence" "Ha! " She exclaimed "do you see now why I can't be the thief?" Connor sighed " Fine, I guess you weren't the thief" "Hmpf," Aubrey stood proud and tall " I think I'm done here." OBJECTION! "not quite," Sebastian asked "I hope you don't mind , but I would like to cross-examine your testimony." "Cross-examine?" Aubrey was a bit confused "First , isn't that what a defense attorney suppose to do? You're a prosecutor right? " She pointed out his prosecutor badge on his label. "And secondly, I just proved my innocents , didn't I ? This isn't a Court Room, you know. You can't just cross-examine me like this." "I'm afraid she's right," Emiko says "I don't see a reason we should do this..." Sebastian wasn't sure what he should say, Cozy however, Knowing what to say to get people to do what she wants, whispers something into Sebastian. "Listen Emiko," Sebastian decides follows Cozy's instructions " The reason we have cross-examinations in a courtroom is to make sure a testimony is perfectly valid and doesn't contradict any of the evidence. Your most precious Ruby was stolen, surely it wouldn't hurt to be extra sure that she isn't lying, would it?" Emiko looked deep in thought for a few seconds "Aubrey, I understand you might be slightly annoyed at this, but you must understand the situation, I hope you're okay with this." "Ugh, Fine" Aubrey said "Just know you're wasting our time." Rebuttal - So apparently all you have is a piece of cyan fabric and pink hair, and just because I have a cyan ribbon and pink hair, it makes me the culprit? - While they seem like solid evidence, that cyan fabric and pink hair could belong to anyone. -Is there anything to prove their even connected to the thief ? they could be there in the vault for another reason. Present Cleaning Time OBJECTION! "I'm afraid there is , in fact, something, or someone, who can prove the fabric and hair has to be connected to the thief" "Oh," Aubrey asked "And what would that be?" "Emiko Mikado Herself told us about a schedule that every maid and servant follows when it comes to the Ruby, it was also the thing that made Emiko sure the thief had to have happen after 6:40 p.m. " Sebastian explained "And that would be?" She was slightly warry at this point "A schedule cleaning time in which the spirit vault is swept until it is spotless, which means the hair and fabric must have arrived there after 6:40, in other words , they must have been left behind by the thief" "And that concerns me , how? " "Pardon?" Testimony: I'm innocent pt 2 - So the fabric and hair has to have come from the thief, you still haven't prove that the hair and fabric is mine. They could belong to anyone. - Not only that, but you also have yet to show actual decisive evidence. -Yes I was in the lounge , but can you prove I actually pressed the button behind the painting and opened the bookshelf? - And not to mention that Sunday still has my back, you still have to address my alibi , ya know? "And that's that" Aubrey proudly pointed out "Go ahead and cross-examine me again, you'll be sorry for waiting out time here." "Oh we'll see about that..." Rebuttal - So the fabric and hair has to have come from the thief, you still haven't prove that the hair and fabric is mine. They could belong to anyone. - Not only that, but you also have yet to show actual decisive evidence. -Yes I was in the lounge , but can you prove I actually pressed the button behind the painting and opened the bookshelf? Present Secret Passage OBJECTION! "Excuse me Aubrey, But did you say, "pressed the button behind the painting" ?" "Um, yes?" Aubrey was confused "And that's important, Why ?" "Can I ask-" "I Don't know, can you?" "Ack, Sorry about my grammar, I - " "It's okay." Paul said "But back on point, what did you want to ask her." "Ah! Aubrey," Sebastian proceeded to ask the same question but corrected his mistake "May I ask, how did you know that the secret passageway opens by a button behind a painting." "Ah!" Aubrey realize her slip of the tongue "Hey , he's right!" Emiko said "Sebastian only said there was a secret passage between the library and spirit vault, he never once mentioned how to open it!" "Ah, well, I knew because-" Before she could give her excuse/ reason, Connor cut her off "It's because you were the one who stole the ruby!" He screamed "You knew exactly how to access the spirit vault without being seen because it was part of your plan!" HOLD IT! "Just because I know about the secret passageway doesn't mean I used it!? " Aubrey screamed "What are you talking about !?" "Allow me to explain." Testimony: The Passageway - You claim that I used a secret passage as part of my plan. And just because I know about how to access it means I must have use it. But unfortunately for you, that isn't true. - This isn't the first party I been to, I discovered the passageway at a previous party, never told you bout it cause I thought you already knew about it, your house after all, Emiko. - You haven't proven that I actually used it today. - Furthermore, all you done is prove that I Could have used the passageway, but the Means to commit a crime isn't everything. You haven't given me a motive to steal the Ruby. - And with Sunday as my alibi, opportunity is out the question as well. "Can we wrap already," Aubrey sounded annoyed "It's clear how much of a waste of time this has become." "You can see it to, can you Sebby" A quiet whisper only heard by one "Yeah, Cozy, though with the way she sounds, it's clear she wants this to end as soon as possible , she'll be trigger by anything that she can claim is a waste of time .I'll press her on that and only that single statement. There will be consequences if I waste her time. " Rebuttal - You claim that I used a secret passage as part of my plan. And just because I know about how to access it means I must have use it. But unfortunately for you, that isn't true. - This isn't the first party I been to, I discovered the passageway at a previous party, never told you bout it cause I thought you already knew about it, your house after all, Emiko. - You haven't proven that I actually used it today. - Furthermore, all you done is prove that I Could have used the passageway, but the Means to commit a crime isn't everything. You haven't given me a motive to steal the Ruby. HOLD IT! "So you claim that there is no motive you have for stealing the ruby?" "Yes," Aubrey stated "I have no reason to commit such a crime , none at all" *BANG* *Raddle* *Raddle* *CLANK* *CLANK* *Raddle* *Raddle* *CLANK* *CLANK* "Four locks, " He murmured "Alright Aubrey, " He told her "If that is your stance, then I'll show what your motive is..." TAKE THAT! ------------------------ She seems very persistent on her claim that she has no motive. If she truly has no reason to steal the Hibana Ruby, then there should be no problems, however... "What do you mean "Show what my motive is" !? You got nothing to show!" Her unusual behavior , almost as if she wants to switch topics and not talk about the possibility of a motive. If I stay silent, then she will change the topic immediately. At the same time, she will keep insisting that there is no motive for her. If I keep attacking , she might get annoyed and choose to fain ignorance My strategy should be to make sure we stay as on topic as possible, stay silent when she's most aggravated and keep on pressing when she tries to put an end to this. An opening will reveals itself soon. I'll focus on what she's saying , and react accordingly . Here we go! LOGIC LOCKS-BEGIN > You have a motive "So are you still insistent that you have nothing that could motivate you to steal the gems?" "Wh-What in the world are you talking about!?" She was fuming at this point "I have no reason to steal anything!?" > [Pawn] Yes you did > Wait and See "..." "I mean, the only reason someone would like to steal something is because they want that thing but can't pay for it, right?" She casually asks " I don't need to steal, I'm perfectly fine financially speaking." > [Pawn] You could be a kleptomaniac > [Knight ] Fine financially? > Wait and see "Perfectly fine financially? I'm sorry, but there's evidence to suggest otherwise." "Wh-What are you talking about!?" She was taken off guard "What evidence!?" (Note: you can present two evidence, each leading to two paths, one path gives a clue needed to complete the 2nd path) Path 1: Present Aubrey's Situation "There were some rumors , you were living in poverty thanks to what your family is doing, and all the money you earned was going to support your family-" "Lies! Slander! My family is the greatest family you can ask for! They aren't some pack of drug takers! How dare you!" > {Pawn} I never said they were drug dealers > [ Pawn] Please calm down > Wait and see. "P-please calm down!" "*huff* Sorry ," She took deep breaths, her previous angry demeanor replaced by a more calmed down expression. "It's just, I hate when people treat dirty lies as the truth. I hate those rumors and would do anything to get the liars to shut their mouths" > [ Pawn] Do anything to get them to shut up? > Wait and See "So , you would do anything that will prove you aren't living in poverty, and your family isn't as terrible as the "Lies" make them out to be..." "Yes, anything ..." This could be a useful clue... Path 2: Present Aubrey's Profile "It's simple really, " Sebastian pointed his baton towards Aubrey's clothes "While everyone else here is wearing a fancy suit or a beautiful dress of high class, your wearing a simple jacket and dress." "Well, I didn't know there was some kind of dress code here, I just wore what I felt like wearing." "You didn't know there was a dress code?" "Yeah, exactly." >[Rook] You should have known > Wait and see "I'm sorry, but I highly doubt that you forgot something like that..." "Oh really, well I suppose you would like to show some prove?" Present Secret Passage. "It's simple , really. Remember what you said earlier when I pointed out you knowing how the secret passage works." "This isn't the first party I been to, I discovered the passageway at a previous party, never told you bout it cause I thought you already knew about it, your house after all, Emiko." "This isn't the first time you've been here before. Yes, if it was your first time here, not knowing what to wear and wearing whatever you feel like wearing would be okay, but Even if there is no dress code, I doubt you would wear something like that when you saw all these people wearing high class fancy clothing..." "Ah, Well," She was nervous "Y-Your s-simply overthinking this. It is as you say , there is no dress code. Yes, I have been here before, but I simply like to wear the jacket because it is more comforting than a dress, you see..." Maybe it's time to use that clue... >[Bishop] What about the rumors? > Wait and See " I don't think you would feel comfortable wearing that jacket if it means conforming the rumors you clearly hate ." "Wha-What are you talking about now!" "Remember what you said earlier." "There were some rumors , you were living in poverty thanks to what your family is doing, and all the money you earned was going to support your family-" "Lies! Slander! My family is the greatest family you can ask for! They aren't some pack of drug takers! How dare you!" "So , you would do anything that will prove you aren't living in poverty, and your family isn't as terrible as the "Lies" make them out to be..." "Yes, anything ..." "You clearly hate the rumors claiming that your family is in poverty. You would love anything to prove they were lies, and by that same logic, you would hate anything that suggest the rumors are actually true, " Sebastian soon made his point clear "Even if you find the jacket comforting, it suggest to others that you are too poor to afford an actual dress for the event, were by everyone has some kind of high class clothing, you stand out too much!" "!!! W-well, I-" "Even if there uncomfortable, from the tone of your voice earlier , wearing a dress for a few hours would be better than letting people spread "Lies" about your financial situation behind your back 24/7. And given how you're apparently a Cavern Core Co elite, you should have no problems buying a dress of your own." Sebastian pause before he said "Unless of course, you can't." "Um, w-well, t-tha, I- um..." She desperately tried to find an excuse " T-that's not true, w-what you wear doesn't necessarily show what you have, a super rich family might decide to wear regular clothes sometimes, th- there is no rule that says you must wear the most expensive clothing you could afford. " "In that case, you wouldn't mind if you show us something expensive you have , maybe let us see some expensive items you have in your bag-" "NO! I won't let you see what's inside my bag!!" She realise how loudly she scream "Um! I mean-" "W-Why did you overreact," Sebastian questioned" I'm simply asking to see an expensive item you have, I'm not actually going to touch it, I just want you to show everyone here what you have as prove your not poor, I'm even letting you choose what you want to show, so why are you so afraid of people seeing what you have in your bag?" "Um , w-well, you see-" Before she could finish , a loud voice startled them both, it was because it came out of no where and was completely unexpected to them, for Aubrey it was because she was to focus on an excuse for Sebastian, for Sebastian, it was because the magic charm made him see nothing but a blue hue chess board void, so the voice from his point of view came straight from thin air, but he immediately recognize where it came from and who the voice was. "It's because you stole the Ruby and hid it in your bag !" "AH!" *CLANG* One of the locks broke . "Connor!" If not for the charm, Sebastian would see an annoyed expression on Emiko face. "What did I say about jumping to conclusions like this! I know you and Aubrey had some beef , but be more civil with this!" "Ye-yeah! T-the truth is, T-there's some really embarrassing stuff there, a-and I don't want anyone seeing that, but it's nothing I stole!' "So how much do you think you need to press her before she can't faint ignorance anymore ?" cozy asked " I've already proven that she has something to hide, she's now trying to make us think what she's hiding isn't important to this whole incident. I'll show what's she's hiding is connected to the crime here. " "Hey, here's some advice for you, knowing her, she will most likely jump at any opportunity she can to excuse herself." "So I should try to make sure she doesn't get that chance?" "No, trick her into a trap, manipulate her to say something contradictory to her own statements. You don't get more suspicious than that..." "Alright then, let's uncover the truth , now!" > What is inside the bag? " There is some embarrassing stuff inside the bag?" "Yes, it's , um, well-" " A poor excuse to hide your poor thief of the Ruby to pay off your poor family?" "Connor!" "No! It's not! It's private stuff, I rather keep them secret!" She held her grip on her bag tighter . "Private stuff that you don't want anyone else to see? " Cozy whispered "Could you be talking about..." > [Pawn] Embarrassing Personal Hobbies? > [Pawn] inappropriate Girl Stuff? > [Pawn] Shameful Personal Secrets? " ... inappropriate girl stuff?" "!!! Cozy!" "What! Maybe here 12 years old is too young, but back in equestrian we were talking about this, in private with our friends of course, but still..." "... *Sigh* Fine, sorry about that Cozy." After apologizing, Sebastian prepared for something he might soon regret. "... Sorry if I'm coming out as rude or blunt with this, but could the embarrassing things be... Girl stuff?" "Wh-what!?" She was caught off guard by that. "I'm just asking what could you possibly be hiding. If it's not that, then what is it?" "Oh, um..." Aubrey was in full panic to try and get the suspicion off of her, so she took the first opening she saw "No, it's just, that was exactly why I don't want people seeing my bag. Some embarrassing girl ...thing, yeah know" She fell right for the trap "Hey Sebby," Cozy whispered something into Sebastian's ear, he soon realise , and gave a slight smirk at her plan. He played his part. "In that case, why not just give the item to Emiko?" "Huh!?" "Emiko herself is a girl, so showing her something like that shouldn't be weird or embarrassing, and it's her Ruby that was stolen, so she would never do anything that could decrease the chances of it being stolen. If your most expensive item is this "Girl stuff" Then Emiko can confirm it without presenting it to everyone here in the hall, showing that you truly had no motive for the crime." Aubrey looked irritated, but before she could object to his statement , "Very well then, let us not waste any more time, come on Aubrey, give me your bag..." "!!! E-emiko! No!" "And why is that? You're wasting time by refusing, just give it to me and we'll be done here." Her tone was filled with annoyance "Because checking my bag would be a waste of time! Why are we even asking questions like this!? The rumors started 5 years ago! How do they have any connection to the Ruby being stolen!? If I really was poor, then I would have stolen things before, but I didn't, and your telling me that suddenly I go ahead and steal the Ruby !?" Hmm , interesting, so the rumors started 5 years ago, this could be a useful clue, but what can this clue prove? > [Rook] She stolen before > [ Rook] She is actually poor > [ Rook] She planned to steal the Ruby "You claim you never stolen anything before? I'm sorry , but after telling us the rumors started 5 years ago, that fact combined with this evidence says otherwise." Present Newspaper Article "From what I heard, around 5 years ago was when Cavern Core Co, the company you worked at, was dealing with a case of mineral embezzlement.' "Mineral Embezzlement..? Oh, that incident." "Yes, some of the minerals mined by the company were stolen and sold to the black market. According to the news, Someone on the inside apparently diverted the trucks to sent the minerals to criminals, the self driving cars having there original destinations replaced with new ones, where the rocs were never found again." "Oh for god's sake!" Aubrey was fuming at this point "We're suppose to find out who stole the gem, your wasting your time asking pointless questions ! What does 500 millions tons of minerals being sent to the middle of the forest 5 years ago have anything to do with this one gem being stolen now!?" > [Rook] That makes no sense > [Rook] Show what connects the two thieves > [ Rook] Show why it isn't a waste of time "What you said makes no sense" "What are you talking about now, Sebastian Debeste !?" " What you say doesn't make any sense at all, and this proves it. Present Newspaper article again "This is a newspaper article detailing the whole incident , and this is the part I want everyone to focus on." Point at interview log "In an interview with Richard Core, CEO of the company himself , he said..." "About 3-6 hundred million tons of minerals, just gone without a trace. We don't know exactly how many were lost but it's a lot." "We have no idea where the trucks went , the electronic records were erased ." " No one knows exactly how many minerals were stolen, or where they went. Yet just now you said..." "What does 500 millions tons of minerals being sent to the middle of the forest 5 years ago have anything to do with this one gem being stolen now!?" "So , may I ask, how did you know that the exact number was 500 million tons? or that they disappeared into a forest?" "ACK! W-well, I-" "Aubrey..." Richard voice had a tone of shock and disbelief "The mineral thief happened only a month after you were promoted into tech administrator. Were you the one who..." "N-No! I didn't-" "Look at how nervous she is, you can't tell me that isn't the look of a caught criminal. " "I, um ,ju- I um ..." "What does any of this prove anyways!?" "It shows us that you have a motive for committing this crime. " "Nonsense! A motive you have yet to prove beyond rumors, and only a possibility as to how I got from the lounge to the vault. You still have to deal with Sunday as my alibi, ya know." "Very well then, can Sunday please come forward. " Sebastian soon heard footsteps , turning off his magic charm, returning to the hall from the void of blue chess, Sebastian soon saw a girl in a simple black dress , she looks rather tired and sleepy. "Sunday, dear, please go ahead and tell everyone the truth" When she said truth, she had an odd shift in tone. "... No" "Excuse me," Her voice sounded more focus and confused. " I'm... Sorry ... for what I'm about to do, but ... please just understand, it's for your own good... " Sunday's words caught everyone off guard. "Wha-What!?" Aubrey was caught off gurad by this. "Sunday, dear, " Paul asked "What are you talking about?" "... Aubrey, she- " Sunday soon started crying "I agreed to help with her plans" "Plans?" "Well, maybe "agree" might be the wrong term." "???" "Aubrey and I, we were childhood friends, when no one else, not even my parents, loved me, she was there to make me happy." She began to cry , sadness tainted her voice " I always thought our friendship was real, that she was like a sister I never had, but then she...' "Started to turn to a life of crime, and threaten me to cooperate." Aubrey eyes wide in shock, everyone in the room gasped "Sunday! You ..." Aubrey was throwing a death glare at her. "I cared for her, loved her, never forgotten what she did, the last thing I want was for someone I cared for to be a criminal, but she- *Sniff* said if I didn't help her, I..." She collapse , crying down rivers of sadness. "I- Um," Aubrey was in to shock "She Lying!?" No one listen to her "Sunday, You poor soul..." "She said I had to," *sniff* to lie , Lie about her being at the lounge to give an alibi, and to... not tell a soul she was planning on stealing the Ruby." "!!!" "What!?" "She planned on doing what!?" "How could she! What a cruel girl!" "Sunday," Aubrey said "How could you, " she looked betrayed " we're friends !" "Friend don't hold each other at knife point, we used to be friends..." She looked at Aubrey dead in the eyes " but not anymore" "I...." Aubrey soon snapped "How dare you!?" She pulled out a small cheap looking pocket knife and tried to attack Sunday, but Connor was already ready for Aubrey trying something and immediately restrained her , the fast motion causing her bag to fall to the floor, where a few pieces of papers came out. Emiko immediately grabbed a small looking note while Richard grabbed a letter. Aubrey saw and tried to rush over to Emiko and Richard to stop them from reading the papers, but Connor still had her restrained. "What does the paper say!?" "Unbelievable..." "No way, all this time, it was..." They both glared right as Aubrey "I want an explanation !" "Please tell me you didn't actually..." Aubrey didn't say anything, she just stared at them in silence. The silence was deafening , an air of tension that stabbed at everyone in the hall, cut off by a quite chuckle , that slowly became more and more louder, until Aubrey was now full on laughing. She had a mental breakdown , and her laughing echo through out the halls, haunting it with a sinister voice... "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!" ---------------------------- "..." "..." "..." "So what are you all expecting now?" "An explanation? Answers? An apology?" "Doesn't matter what I say, you all won't believe me." "... No one has ever believed me." "..." "When something was wrong, I tried to tell them, warn them about the bad things that were going to happen." "..." "No one listen , they all say I'm just a young kid lying for the sake of a joke. That They were the adults who knew everything and I was too young to know what's safe and what's dangerous..." "Then the bad things happen, they suffer because they never listen to my warnings... ... But their suffering is also mine." "My family never listen, and now I suffer in poverty for what they did." "And thing got worst..." "Stop doing drugs, don't drink that stuff..." "No one listen, saying it's there house, there problems," "They forget they also forced me to stay there." "..." "..." "I never wanted to do this, ya know." "I hated every second of it." " I loved you, Sunday, And hated forcing you to to this." "I'm sorry for what I did to you, Connor, and I wanted to make it up to you as soon as possible." "..." "... My family gave me no choice, I was practically forced to do this..." "I never wanted to steal the minerals and sell them" "And I wish I never needed to plan to steal the Ruby..." " You wouldn't listen when I say this, but I'll say this anyways..." "From the bottom of my heart, I'm sorry..." "..." "..." "heh, it's funny you know." "Force to Go through all that trouble, and at the end of the day, not only was the heist a failure, but I got caught for everything I did..." ------------------------------------------------ ... ... ... HOLD IT! "Um," Paul Light address this as politely as possible "I'm terribly sorry if it is an inappropriate time to address this, but... what do you mean " not only was it a failure," ?" "Heh, You wouldn't believe me , you wouldn't listen to me at all." " After reading this letter basically outright confirming you were behind all these mineral thief, I sure as hell lost all trust in you," Richard bluntly stated. "You have an entire piece of paper here detailing your plan to steal the Ruby. " Emiko showed the paper she was holding "What do you mean, it was a failure?" "After taking the secret passage from the library to the vault, I opened the box to take the ruby, but the thing was... The ruby was already gone..." Gasps and murmurs soon echo the hall. "What are you talking about!? " Connor looked mad "You basically admitted to steal the Ruby, why do you think you can still hide the Ruby even after your confession!?" OBJECTION! "I didn't say I stole it," Aubrey corrected him "I said I planned on stealing it, but it seems as though the plans went sideways." "Oh please! The only way into the vault is either the regular door or the secret passage! " Connor said "The only other person who could have stolen it was Paul, and he is practically out of the question ." "But it's the truth, " She said " It really was already stolen by the time I was there..." "I don't believe you, at all..." "Heh, no one believed in what I said," She chuckled " and look where we are now, go ahead and think me as the true culprit, I'll just watch as the real thief who somehow stole it before me gets away with it..." " What is she trying to do here?" Sebastian was confused "She admitted to planning to steal the Ruby, why claim it was already stolen. She was the only other person who could have stolen it, or could she?" "Something feels wrong here, there's something off here, " Sebastian had a feeling " This isn't the whole story..." " I just can't shake the feeling , a suspicion this isn't the end... I feel like I need to thing this case over one more time..." --------------------------------------------------- [REVISUALIZATION] Let's review what we have so far... Aubrey basically admitted that she planned on stealing the Ruby, she just didn't actually steal it. Her argument is that the ruby is already stolen. The problem is that the ruby could only be stolen between 6:40 and 7:00 leaving her as the only suspect. Yes, there was Paul, but as Aubrey herself said "No motive..." Aubrey insists that the Ruby was stolen by someone else before she arrived , but that would mean there would be a third way to steal the Ruby, is there? > There is another way > There isn't another way The ruby wasn't found in her bag, and there wouldn't be any place she could hide the Ruby in the mansion. At lease not without risk of someone accidentally finding it. And the way she acts , it seems like she really is honest with this. There might actually be a 3rd way to access the spirit vault. But what exactly is that third way? Window Frame Of course, the only other way into the vault that we haven't talked about is the vault window. But then again, we immediately ruled that out because the window was locked. The only way the thief could enter through that window was if it was unlocked, but when we investigate the room, the window was lock, and there's no way to open or close the latch from the outside... Or is there? Metal latch on a Plastic Frame window Just like Edgeworth taught me, every single detail must be accounted for when making a case. Every suspicion nook and cranny could contain something that can make or break a case. When examining the window frame, one detail just stood out more . In spite a plastic frame, the latch was made of metal. Emiko said Mari used the metal latch to replace a broken one, in spite the fact there were plastic latches next to the metal ones. She chalked it up to Mari being unobservant , but could that really be the case? Connor even pointed out during our investigation "I'm still surprise how it broke it the first place, It should have been next to impossible to accidentally break the latch the way it did..." Could that mean Mari breaking the latch and replacing it with a metal latch instead of a plastic one on purpose instead of an accident and a mistake? But I think I might be getting ahead of myself. As Edgeworth also taught me, I can't just jump to conclusions, I first need to actual evidence that the metal latch could make a difference. In this case, it should be to allow someone to open the window from the outside. How could a metal latch allow someone to do so? Box of Magnets When me and Cozy were in the closet, I picked up a box of magnets, maybe that can be used to open the window? I mean, it could be possible, someone could use the magnet to move the metal latch through the plastic frame. But did someone actually did that? Window Frame There was a piece of black fabric attached to the window, along with some stretch lines and rust... The fabric could be ripped from whoever opened the window, and the scratch and rust could be from the magnet . This would mean someone took a magnet from the closet, used it to open the window , stole the gem and then used the magnet again to reclose the Window. This also explains getting around the problem of the vault being on the 2nd floor, meaning the window is above ground, there were ladders in the closet . But that leads to the main question, who stole it? Mari's Profiles The maid who replaced the plastic latch with the metal one, who was in the media room , and therefore had access to the closet, most of the time , and who wore black fabric as part of her uniform... But Mari being the thief creates one problem. Where did she hide the Ruby? The maid uniform has no pockets to hide the gem in, and because of the time window of 6:40 to 7:00, combines with the problem at the kitchen, she only had a limited amount of time . Enough to steal the Ruby , sure, but then she need to hide it almost immediately after she came back to the media room. And she has to put back the ladder and magnet. So where could the gem be? Mansion Map- Point at the Closet The Hibana Ruby is hidden in the Closet Of course, it the only place that makes sense . A place where no one could accidentally find the Ruby, and what better time saver than to visit only one place instead of two. If the Ruby is inside the Closet, then we know who stole it, right here, right now! ------------------------------------------------ "..." " I had just about enough of this! " Emiko screamed " Connor, keep her restrained, it's clear Aubrey is the only one who could steal the gem. Lets see you try to hide where it is after the police is done with you!" HOLD IT! "Emiko, wait," Emiko looked over to Sebastian "What?" She sounded a bit irritated. "I know where the Ruby is" Sebastian felt all eyes on him "or at least, I have a theory as to where it could be..." "Really," Emiko said "tell us where?" "Can someone go ahead and investigate the Closet attached to the Media room?" "!!!" Mari was shocked "The Closet, very well then, Paul, Henry , please go and search the closet" Mari stayed silent. Her expression is hard to read, she seems oddly calm about the whole situation. Paul and Henry went over to the closet to search for the Ruby. "Well, what now?" Cozy asked "I like to take this extra time to ask some questions to some people." Sebastian went over and talked with Sunday first. "Hey Sunday," She turned around to see who was talking to her. "Oh, it's just you. How's it going?" "It's going fine, I'm actually Here to ask you the same thing." "Ah, well," Sunday paused, she wasn't sure how to respond "to be honest, I don't know. Aubrey and I have been best friends, A part of me still cares about her, she's forced to do all these bad things because of her family, and went ahead and not tell me about all of this. Maybe she didn't want me involved in her family situation, so she simply asked for my help with stealing stuff, without even telling me what I was doing." "You didn't know you were helping her with stealing thing" "After I just found out, I tried to get her to stop, I knew there was something wrong, but it's hard to question things when a knife is pointed at you..." "Why did you betray her and tell the truth?" "Well, as her friend, I wanted to help her as much as I can . I knew something was forcing her to steal, but especially with a knife pointed at me, I can't really help outside helping her steal things, but as you also know, I hate doing anything illegal, but I don't have another choice. " "So you thought betraying her at this moment would help her with her family situation ?" Sebastian was still confused by Sunday's actions, even though he understand her motives. " I prayed for someone, anyone, to show me how I can help my friend , both from whatever was causing her to steal as well as getting her to stop her sudden and illegal ways, someone who called themselves the Bishop told me what I should do, I was just following instructions and hoping for the best." Sunday admitted "!!! D-did you say, the bishop?" Sebastian was surprise to hear her of all peo- I mean ponies brought up. "Yeah, " She said "Really seemed like I could finally get out a troubling situation without hurting my friend. Guess I was wrong " She sighed "Hey, Do you know who this bishop is?" Cozy asked "Ye-Yeah," Sebastian was unsure if he should tell Cozy about her , " Let's just say I met her before," Hopefully that was vague enough that Cozy didn't realise who Sebastian was talking about while also being acceptable enough of an answer for Cozy glow. "Golly," She said "She sounds important, do you think I'll meet her soon?" "Oh, um," (Quick think of something ) "You'll meet her eventually..." "Um, ok" Sebastian couldn't tell from her mask, but Cozy sounded a bit wary. Sebastian then went over and talked to Emiko , he had something up his mind he wanted to say to her... "Excuse me, Madam." "Yes, Sebastian?" "Can I ask something? It's a question I had in my mind since I arrived here..." "Oh, of course, after helping us with what has happened, I suppose I owe you that much. What do you have on your mind?" "Actually, that's the problem, my question is, why am I even here?" "Hmm, what do you mean?" "What I mean is, why was I even invited here in the first place? This party is celebrating the founding of your family jewelry company, yet I myself have never heard of Mikado Marvelous Moonstones, the fact I was given an invitation letter was surprising to me, even more so when it was personally delivered by Paul light, your most loyal servant." "Ah! That, well..." "Also, I find it odd that you would call me tonight's "special guest " when we never even met before, and on the day I get invited here, your most beloved Ruby get's stolen. I know there's more to this , why was I invited here?" ... *Sigh* She sounded dejected "She told me this was going to happen sooner or later, I guess I shouldn't be surprised " "Who told what?" Sebastian was even more confused at this point "The moon spirit, of course, " She began to explain " My family believed in many spiritual, magical and mystical things, what most don't know was that these things actually stem from a now long forgotten religion " " A long forgotten religion, huh, "Cozy murmured " Sound a lot like what I read about ancient Equestria and it's magic practices. Emiko continued " Whenever a spirit directly contacts you, It is usually to pass on something of value to you . A moon spirit visited me in my dreams and told me that something bad was going to happen and I should follow it's advise." "Visited you-" Because of his conversation with Sunday, his brain still had The bishop in his mind , it didn't take him long to connect 2 and 2 together in his brain "In your dream!?" "Yes, and as instructed, I followed all of it's advise, including sending an invite to you an invite, and look what happens now, someone tried to steal the Hibana Ruby, and you caught them before they can get away with it." "What did this spirit look like," A strange look from Emiko made Sebastian quickly added "J-just for curiosity sake, o-of course!" "Well, she had dark skin, a nighttime motive to her, hair that looked like the night sky , with small star-like sparkles all over her hair, and a crescent moon located on her body..." "Yep, it's the bishop, go figure..." Sebastian thought in his head before he *sigh* "Golly," He looked over to see Cozy Glow deep in thought. "Yeah Cozy? You alright, " he whispered "Huh, Oh," She quickly looked back at him "Nothing, just lost in thought." "What were you thinking?" "Well, the way she describe this moon spirit, no matter how hard I try to invision what she might look like , I always end up with the image of Princess Luna. the way she described it, it's pretty similar to the way ponies would described princess Luna and how she looked..." "Princess Luna?" Sebastian never heard of her before "Who is she?" "Well, princess Luna is one of the princess of Equestria ruling alongside her sister, she-" "Madam Emiko!!" Henry ran out from the media room, "We found the ruby!" He soon show Emiko ... Hibana Ruby noted ... A gold circle , with a bright shining Ruby in the middle... *Gasp* "The Hibana Ruby!" "It's the Ruby, it really was hidden in the closet!" "Incredible, simply incredible." Emiko quickly took the Ruby from Henry and placed it into the box. "Our most presious and important gem has been founded and returned ." She turned to Sebastian "Thank you for your help with this..." "Hey, I have a question, I hope you don't mind but," Connor asked "How did you know the closet was where Aubrey hid the Ruby?" "heh , um, well the truth is, Sebastian was a bit nervous to say this "Aubrey didn't hid it there" ... "What?" "Well, there's no easy way to put this, but..." Sebastian was nervous, building up courage to say something he knew would result in a large amount of backlash " it's because Aubrey wasn't the one who stole the Ruby..." "..." "..." "But ," Connor said, dumbfounded "Aubrey, she-" "Confessed that she planned on stealing the Ruby, but someone else stole it before her, and I believe that someone else is... " Sebastian was readying himself "The maid, Mari..." "I'm sorry , What!?" He quickly explained "Remember when we were investigating the vault and we checked the window frame, you yourself said that Mari broke the latch by accident, but said it should be impossible for her to do so. Unless she did it on purpose " Mari was getting more nervous as he continued "she then replaced the broken latch with a metal one, in spite the fact that the window frame was plastic, and the plastic latch was right next to the metal ones, Emiko , you assumed it was her being unobservant, but what if she did it on purpose too..." "Sebastian , " Emiko was beyond confused " what suggested that she did all that on purpose instead of by accident, and how does it prove she stole the Ruby?" " Here's what happen, someone grabbed a ladder and a magnet from the closet. Using the ladder to reach the window on the 2nd floor, and the magnet to open the latch from the outside. " Mari is sweating bullets , Emiko and the others looks less annoyed and more interested in where this was going. "Using the magnet to move the metal latch and open it passing through the plastic frame, they opened the window, stole the Ruby, and using the same trick, closed the latch to make the illusion that no one could used the window." Everyone was surprised with the theory he was presenting. "Remember when we investigated the window frame, there were scratch mark, rust and back fabric. The rust and scratch marks were from using the magnet onto the frame. " Emiko, Paul and Connor connected two and two together, and realise where this was going, looking straight at Mari, who was having a small panic. " Someone who wore black fabric that ripped off the window frame, who was in the media room most of the time, and who replaced the plastic latch for a metal one..." He pulled out and pointed his baton " Mari, after you stole the Hibana Ruby, you hid it in the closet, didn't you!?" "!!! I, wha," Mari was shocked, caught off guard "Mari," Paul asked "Is this true..." "..." Mari stayed silent, she was refusing to answer. " Listen Mari, if you want to insist that your innocent, then go ahead and refute my claim, otherwise, we are going to have to arrest you for also trying to steal the Ruby." ... ... ... "Heh, sorry, but I can't let you do that.." "Excuse me," It was now Sebastian's turn to be caught off guard. "What exactly gives you the right to do this," She stated "What gives you the right to do any of this?" She took a step forward, asserting her point even more "This isn't a crime scene, the police aren't even here yet, you're not a prosecutor or an investigator right now, your just a guest here , invited to a party. You think when a crime gets committed you have the right to jump in and solve the case ?" "Um-I-" "Shut up, you worthless idiot." Mari's words stabbed him right in the heart, he step back in surprise as everyone in the room gasped "Wha-What?" "Yeah, you heard me, a worthless idiot, that's who you are. You always been useless, you know. Every single thing you do is wrong. Your stupidity makes you screw up pretty much everything yo try to do. The only reason you were a prosecutor was because of your father and his influence..." "!!!" Sebastian didn't want to talk about it "P-Please stop..." " Stop? stop what? Telling you the truth? That you are an idiot who doesn't have basic logic, someone who only got this far not by their own skill, but by depending on others, who is so blind they didn't realise all their achievements they earned weren't real, who's only use is to be a worthless pawn that others can manipulate for their own benefit?" Sebastian was starting to cry at this point "Oh, what, you gonna cry, cry for your parents? Oh that's right , you don't have any. Your mother is gone, your father is in prison, and the closest thing you have to a parental figure is your mentor Edgeworth, who you promise to that you would improve and learn from, yet here you are , being the same self absorbed idiot you were." "That-That's not true!" This was attacking the most personal part of Sebastian's heart, his emotions and insecurities, he starts to cry , bending his conductors baton , his voice tainted with a mix of sadness and confusion. "Oh really, you're still self absorbed in your own world where you believe what you say is true, backing it up with "Shining logic" that's so full of holes it makes swiss chess look solid, all the while being manipulated by someone who you believe would never do such a thing, and even more pathetically, rather than your birth father Blaise, it's a horse." "Wha-What do you mean!?" "I'm talking about Cozy Glow of course, you goddamn idiot. God are you that stupid!?" Sebastian and Cozy was taken off guard by this "What!?" "Guess it should be that surprising, after all, if your such an idiot you couldn't realise your father manipulated you for his own benefit, then it would be hard to imagine you finding out by yourself that the Pegasus filly next to you isn't as cute and innocent as she claims to be. She looks like a cheerful, sweet little filly , but she's really just a manipulator who controls others for her own benefit. Just like your father." "she-She's lying." Cozy whispered to Sebastian. Though her distraught is heard clearly "Heh, but it doesn't matter now. You won't be making any more stupid decisions anymore, after all, how can you do something that ruins everything," She pulled out a kitchen knife she somehow hidden in her sleeves, "When your but a corpse" She lunge forward, Sebastian immediately dashed out the way to avoid being stabbed, but tripped and fell onto the ground. Mari loomed over him with a knife in her hands, but before she could stab him, the front door burst open. Mari turned to look as two policemen jumped her and tackle her to the ground. "Freeze, this is the police!" Soon , a group of policemen rush into the hall. ---------------------------------------------